


Chicken

by CynicalGamer



Category: Stardew Valley (Video Game)
Genre: Anxiety, But mostly Shane, Depression, I don't actually know what this is but here it is, Insomnia, It'll probably be Everyone Loves the Farmer the Story, More characters to be added, Other, Reader-Insert, Slow Burn, Unrequited Love, gender neutral reader
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-03-20
Updated: 2016-04-06
Packaged: 2018-05-27 21:20:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 8,839
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6300832
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CynicalGamer/pseuds/CynicalGamer
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In which you just GOTTA befriend the grump who drinks beer by himself in the corner of the Saloon.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter One

**Author's Note:**

> Sometimes I jump perspective from You to Shane but I hope it'll always be clear :'D
> 
> Look my dudes, I love Shane a lot and so I had to write about the progression of him and the Farmer. I wish he had more in-game dialogue tho cause I have very little to work off of personality and speech pattern wise so bear with the fact that he'll be 90% headcanons ;-;

Shane was a chicken sometimes, which was perfectly fine with him since he did love chickens. They were pretty great, after all, with their adorable walks and small little beaks; the way they clucked and when you hold them, how still they managed to keep their heads. But that was besides the point. Shane was a chicken. He was scared of a lot of things in life: Of the future, of his own short comings, of strangers.

Hoo boy, was he afraid of strangers. Having moved to Pelican town, Shane quickly adjusted to a very set amount of people, and these people were essentially his limit. In his eyes, there was no need to meet anyone else, no need to go travelling (although there was no way he could afford to, what with his 7 days a week job at the Joja mart in town), and no need AT ALL to change his schedule of getting up, going to work, and drowning all his depression in as much alcohol as he could tolerate without risking not waking up in the morning. That was his existence, until of course YOU came along.

 

You were new to Pelican town. Duh, of course you knew that. Having finally broken down and opened the envelope your Grandfather left to you, you dropped everything in your city life to start over and live an ‘easier’ life. Quotations of course, seeing as this was a LOT more manual labor. Obviously, you hadn’t expected it to be easy, but at the same time, you couldn’t help but hope it wasn’t all that hard.

Upon arriving to town, you had met a wonderfully kind woman named Robin, and the mayor your grandfather mentioned by name, Lewis. After the initial shock of finding the plot of land completely untamed, left to be devoured by the weeds and ever approaching forest, you began to feel… at home, if that made any sense.

“I know, it’s a bit of a mess right now, and the cottage isn’t much to look at.” Robin rubbed at the back of her neck, as if she was to blame for nature just doing its thing. “The place doesn’t even have a kitchen, but if you ever want to upgrade, you come find me, alright?” She used her thumb to gesture at herself and smiled brightly. Oh great. No kitchen? How on earth were you supposed to fend for yourself, just live off of parsnips you grew?

Eh, that didn’t sound TOO awful. Except it did.

Lewis and Robin soon left your farm. That was weird, calling it YOUR farm, but the truth was, it was. Everything happened so suddenly, it was still almost dream-like to you, but regardless, it was reality, and you had a small town to explore.

One thing you really had to get used to was walking everywhere, something that was never an issue in the city. It took a solid 25 minutes just to get into town, but once you were there, you were surprised to see people, all just walking about and occasionally sparing a glance in your direction. It was go time.

“Hi there, I’m---”

“You’re the new farmer, right?” A woman with pleasant green hair asked. She smiled so warmly, you were rather taken aback,

“Uh, yeah. That’s me.”

“I’m Caroline. My husband runs the general store, and have you met my daughter, Abigail? She’s the pale one with the purple hair.” You shook your head no. “Well I’m positive you’ll run into her eventually. This town is rather small, there’s not all that many of us to meet. Besides, nearly everyone will be keeping an eye out for you.”

“For me?” You echoed her last statement, feeling a little on the uncomfortable side. You weren’t exactly used to being the center of attention.

“Mhm. It’s been awhile since we last saw a new face here. Anyway, I have to meet up with someone, so I’ll see you around. Good bye.” With that, she hurried off, leaving you in the middle of the town square. Seemed like your meeting people wasn’t going to be so difficult after all.

Caroline was in fact, correct, most people seeked you out, introducing themselves in such a polite manner that you had to stop for a moment and remind yourself they’re all being sincere. There was a surprising amount of younger people in the town, like the previously mentioned Abigail and others like Sebastian or Leah. For some reason, you had convinced yourself that this was just going to be a town of old people who complained all the time. But they had George for that, so…

In the end, you had nearly met everyone within the first ten or so hours of being there. You hadn’t even unpacked what little stuff you brought, but you figured there was time for that later. As the sun set behind some distant mountains, you found yourself drawn to the Saloon, where you had earlier met a kind fellow named Gus.

“Can I get ya somethin’ to drink?” He asked you, washing up a glass in preparation for the incoming crowd. Mayor Lewis had mentioned how that place was the go-to hang out for everyone in the evening. Sure enough, you went to it, but maybe a little earlier than anyone else. After all, you were only familiarizing yourself with the area.

“Nah, I’ll pass tonight.” You replied, leaning up against the counter tops. Gus shrugged, tucking away the glass somewhere out of sight. You assumed there was shelf space there, or so you hoped.

“Think you’ve met everyone?” The conversation was continued, tugged in another direction. You thought for a moment and shrugged.

“I guess. Hard to tell without some kind of checklist.” The Saloon owner chuckled at that.

Suddenly, the front door opened and in came Emily, another townsperson you had met in your wandering. She grinned wide, waving her fingers individually at you.

“Hey there, farmer! Here for a drink?” She rounded the counter top, tying a small apron around her waist and joining Gus in prepping the work space.

“Just winding down before heading back to the farm.”

“Oh yeah, it’s a bit of walk, isn’t it? Well you’re more than welcome to hang around here all you want! Until we close.” Emily bursted out with laughter at her own joke. Something about that was instantly charming.

You spoke with the both of them for some time, watching as more and more people trickled in as it grew later in the evening, that was until an extra unfamiliar face entered. Yes, extra unfamiliar, cause being completely honest, you weren’t quite familiar with anyone.

Thick, near-black eyebrows that found themselves pointed down and causing wrinkles to spread in the center of his forehead. Purple hair that was swept to the side, but sweat (you assumed) caused the tips to cling to his skin. Torn up jacket, faded shorts, five-o'clock shadow, this guy looked incredibly out of place. Which was saying a lot seeing as there was some goth girl, some dude who looked straight out of a fantasy novel, and a scientist guy all in that small town.

But you digress. You had most certainly not met this guy.

You must have been staring, cause Gus immediately tapped your shoulder to get your attention.

“That’s Shane. Prolly didn’t see him cause he works most the day.” He quickly filled you in. Still, you continued to stare dumbly, feeling almost… intimidated.

“I should introduce myself.”

“Oh, I don’t know if you---” But it was too late, you were already making your way over to the guy as he stood in the corner. There was already a beer in his hand, you assumed Emily got it to him. Perhaps he was a regular? Well, that didn’t say much since everyone here was a regular.

“Hey, Shane right? I’m---”

“I don’t know you. Why are you talking to me?” He immediately snapped at you, eyes somehow more narrowed than before. You were taken aback, which was odd for you since that was a perfectly normal reaction back in the city, but here? Here, people were so courteous and friendly, offering up more information than you ever asked for.

“Um. Okay?” You backed away, leaving him by himself. What a dick. Guess you just had to befriend him, then.

 

Shane was a chicken. Clucked much like one, too, especially at strangers. Especially at cute strangers. He was mostly fine with this, but the truth was he hated it. He hated hearing about you from his Aunt Marnie. Hated that you were just GIVEN some kind of fresh start. Hated that you approached him as if you already belonged in that small, irrelevant town. Shane really, really hated you, but he mostly hated himself for it.

That night, when he collapsed in bed well after midnight, he hoped you never would appear in his sights ever again. But he also didn’t wish that. Cause he was a chicken.


	2. Chapter Two

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> To be honest, I probably won't follow actual dialogue almost at all in this  
> I headcanon Gus as like a father figure to everyone in town so I apologize I'm gonna have him here giving advice a lot

You had already been living in Pelican Town for about a week, getting adjusted and growing fond of every person you had the pleasure to run into. You were correct in that you weren’t eating that well (you mostly survived off field snacks and pizzas purchased at the Saloon) but at least you were making a pretty penny off the fresh crops. Soon, you would be able to upgrade your house with the help of Robin and actually have a kitchen. Boy, you sure missed having a kitchen.

Of course, while your farm was going well, as were most of your bonds with the townspeople, there was actually a big problem. Shane still seemed to hate your guts. Then again, you weren’t sure you blamed him.

“So, Shane!”

“Go away.”

“I was just wondering---”

“Stop.”

“Can’t you spare one minute to talk?”

“Not really.” It was true, you had found out he worked seven days a week at the Joja Mart in town. Talk about a nightmare. “So go away.”

“I’m just trying to be---”

“Trying to be what? Annoying? You’re pretty good at that, now get out of my face.” Shane quickly side stepped past you, heading off to his horrid job at his still slow pace. You didn’t bother to try and harder today, he was clearly not being affected at all by these conversations. Or, rather, the effect was negative as can be.

“Sorry…” You muttered, to yourself. It was still rather early in the morning and you had more of your fields to clean out, so you headed back home. That afternoon, however, you found yourself settled at the Saloon, snacking on some fries.

“Somethin’ bothering you?” Gus asked, pulling up a chair to the table. “You look real down on yourself.”

“That obvious?”

“A little bit. Is it Shane?” You shrugged passively, trying not to seem as dumb as you managed to feel. “Well, hang in there. Shane ain’t exactly easy to win over.” Nearly coughing up your food, you quickly went in to correct Gus.

“I’m not trying to woo the guy, just become friends, ya know?”

“I wasn’t implying anything…” Gus assured you with a small smile. Oh, he was DEFINITELY implying something. You could tell. “But a word of advice? He likes chickens and anything with some spice to it.”

“Really?”

“Mhm.” Gus stood up, reaching for your now empty plate of fries and carried it away. “Just stop harassing him in the street so badly and maybe he’ll warm right up to ya.”

“I’m not harassing him THAT bad…” You mumbled, although you knew you totally were. Gus’ advice was really great, although you had no access to eggs or anything spicy as of yet, but at least you would come summertime. Wait a minute… how did Gus know about your harassing? Was Shane talking about you?

The next day, you entered town and stood by the bulletin board, checking out what errands people were paying for. Sure enough, Shane began to come into view behind you. He visibly scowled, but continued along his path as stubborn as he was.

“Have a good day at work.” You simply told him, plucking a piece of paper off the board and turning to walk away. Before you managed to leave him behind you, you noticed his mouth start to open, but no words came out. The guy with a comeback to everything finally had nothing to say, and you felt victorious.

Until, of course, he mumbled something under his breath and kept walking. You whipped your head around, but there was no chance you were gonna catch what he said after he had already said it. That just didn’t make sense.

As you went your separate ways, you were surprised to be stopped by someone.

“Hey there, farmer!” Abigail was standing just outside Pierre’s store and you hadn’t even heard her come out. With a small wave in her direction, she took that as an invitation to come closer. “Listen, I heard you went into the mines, yeah?”

It was true, you had explored them a little. Slimes and bugs really ruled down there as far as you could tell, and neither of them were all that nice to you. Still, it wasn’t like you were all that much of an expert.

“So it’s true?” Abigail grinned from ear to ear. “Hey, if you find a really cool sword or something that you don’t need, could I have it?” You shrugged in response, not exactly wanting to promise something that her parents would be pissed about. You had already learned how critical Caroline was of Abigail’s style, personality and appearance wise. “See ya later, Farmer!” You really wished people would just call you by your name.

 

Shane was a chicken. Much like the pre-packaged version of it that he placed out in the back of the store, he felt he just didn’t look right. Not to say he was ugly, not to even say he looked off, just that he looked out of place. You had noticed that and he knew it. He hated it. He was scared of it, scared of you and your sudden change outside. He was fine with you constantly badgering him, in all honesty, just cause it was a nice change of pace from the usual crowd around town ignoring the hell out of him. You didn’t ignore him, though, you just stopped being… aggressive. How was he supposed to feel about that? How was he supposed to feel about you at all?

The store’s bright lights and painfully bland interior caused Shane to rub at his eyes as he finished setting out the cold meat. His hands felt frozen.

“Tch.” He rolled his eyes, replaying your words in his head. Have a good day? Yeah right.


	3. Chapter Three

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sTRUGGLES TO WRITE OTHER CHARACTERS

It was becoming apparent that you were spending way too much time obsessed with gaining Shane’s approval, so of course, all you could do at that point was move on for the time being. Of course, you still pretended every morning that you had business in town so that you could give him a small greeting. Every time he mumbled something under his breath. After awhile, you just hoped it was something like ‘you too’ but there was far too many syllables muttered for it to be that.

Regardless, you were probably making progress, it was just really slow.

With a heavy sigh, you entered town with an actual purpose that time, heading straight for Pierre’s. It was about time you purchased some more seeds. Ya know, before it was too late and summer came around. Pushing some hair back, you entered the shop and were greeted by the ever smiling Pierre.

“Good morning, what can I do for you?” He asked, leaning forward on his counter. You assumed that was a force of habit since his vision wasn’t the best and the store was kind of large. You approached, digging a small list out of your pockets. “Ah, restocking on some seeds, huh? Let me gather these up real quick.” Off he went, snatching up packets of seeds from shelf after shelf. He really was a diligent worker.

Of course, he had to be. You had been there just the other day when that absolute douchebag Morris came in, waving around coupons like he actually needed the extra business. You wanted to smack that dumb smirk off his face. How on earth was anyone even working for that guy, after all the crap he was doing to the town, tearing it apart inside out.

“Here you are. That’ll be 1500 G.” Pierre suddenly gained your attention, snapping you out of your bitter thoughts. You smiled, paid for the seed packets, and tucked them away in your bag. “Oh, and hey if it isn’t too much to ask for, I have to mind the shop, so can you do me a favor and tell Abigail she’s in charge of dinner tonight? She should be in her room.” Who were you to say no?

“Yeah, sure.” Having no real idea where her room was, you headed off into the back and entered into a larger room you hadn’t seen before. To your left, you could see two doors, one of which had Abigail loudly complaining behind it. Score. You approached and knocked gently. You only had to wait a second before Abigail opened up, pouting until she saw your face.

“Farmer!” She beamed at you, grabbing your hand in her own and dragging you into her room. “You’re just the person I need!” What exactly had you gotten into?

“Um, me?” You just kind of went with it, seeing as you had a message to deliver to her anyway.

“Yeah! I’m kind of stuck and, dude, I’ve seen you play this at the Saloon before, so you’re exactly who I need! Will you be my Player 2 and help get me through this dumb level?” She clasped both her hands together and grinned as wide as she could. “Pleaseeee?”

“You don’t have to beg me, I’ll do it.” You chuckled lightly, accepting the controller that was awkwardly shoved into your hands. Abigail patted a spot next to her and you joined her, staring straight ahead at the screen. The game lit up once more, after that dark Game Over screen that had been in its place only a moment ago.

For a while, the two of you played in silent, but fierce concentration, bodies leaning forward as if the closer you were to the screen affected anything. Once you knew you were in the swing of things again, you figured then would be a good time to start bonding. But like, in that way where you actually knew something about her.

“So, uh, Abigail?”

“Hm?” Her eyes of course didn’t leave the screen and she had her mouth scrunched up in a way that made you second guess your polite conversation.

“You’ve lived in Pelican Town all your life, right? Shit!” You barely escaped death.

“What makes ya say that?” Her voice became all sing-songy. “Not everyone is born and dies here.”

“Really?” For some reason you were pretty convinced that everyone lived their whole lives for generations in the town. Wasn’t that just a small town thing?

“Yeah. Shane, Linus, Demetrius, yada yada. A handful of people def weren’t born here. But you're right, I've lived my whole life here.” Abigail leaned forward a bit more, scrunching up her mouth again as the two of you reached the end of the level. You figured there wasn’t much as to say on the matter.

By the time you were done with the level she had been having so much trouble with, it was just about evening. And crap, you hadn’t given Abigail the message.

“Shit, uh, Abigail, your father had wanted me to tell you that, uh, you’re in charge of dinner tonight.” Gosh how could you have been  so forgetful?

“Oh, yeah? Well cool, then I can invite you to stay for it.” She smiled cheerfully, grabbing your hand once again to take you into the kitchen. “You know your way around an oven, right, Farmer?” Still with that nickname. And was she trying to rope you into helping with the dinner she JUST invited you to stay for? Jeez.

The two of you quickly threw together a meal, some kind of chowder using a lot of home grown veggies. Soon enough it was time to eat and you (kind of awkwardly) joined the family for dinner, discussing different farming tips with Pierre and the weather with Caroline. It seemed they liked you… or so you had hoped.

“Bye, thanks for having me!” You called out as you finally left the General Store.

“Stop by again!” Abigail had the last word as you shut the door and left them behind. She really seemed to have taken a liking to you, and you didn’t mind in the slightest finally having a close friend in town. Made everything seem a little more like… home.

That was when you noticed a rather out-of-it Shane starting to pass by, heading straight for the Saloon. You were about to say something, but thought it better to leave him be. After all, you were trying to befriend him, not annoy him to death. You decided to head home.

 

Little had you known, Shane very much noticed your presence, even going so far as to spare a glance in your direction. He thought to call out to you, something rather out of character, but thought it better to leave you be. After all, he was afraid. Damn, what was he even thinking? Shane’s hands formed fists, his thumbs rubbing subconsciously at the middle joint of his pointer finger as he watched you head off towards your home. He watched until you were far enough that lights no longer guided your way. It made him feel weird.

With a huff, Shane shook his head and continued on towards the Saloon.

He really needed a beer.


	4. Chapter Four

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really need to do more research on these other characters AKA I need to get more scenes in Stardew Valley :'D

It was early summer now, the sun rising pretty much way too early and peeking through your windows which did not have the most efficient shades, might you add. Honestly, that was probably for the best, but still, even after living in Pelican Town for as long as you had been, there was no ‘good morning’ it was just morning. Plain and simple. (Spoiler: You weren’t a morning person when it meant waking up at 5:30 just to get dressed before the sun was up).

Either way, you still had to do it if you were going to get this farm in working order once again. So, with the little bit of motivation you had buried inside of you, you fell out of bed and onto the floor.

“Solid.” You muttered to yourself before removing your face from the floorboards. It was hot outside. You wanted to sleep.

Slipping into your clothing, you hurried outside to tend to the new crops you had planted and to prep some land for a building project. It was finally time, you had saved up the entirety of spring with all that fishing and mining and farming so you could build a Chicken Coop.

Okay, so, your plan wasn’t totally solid, if only because you were going to be mostly broke once all the money was handed over to Robin. That meant no chickens for a while, but at least you’d have the option. Kinda.

You made quick work of the mini forest trying to encroach on your field and marked that spot in your mind for placement.

“Nice work, Farmer.” You let out a huff of air, wiping some sweat off your forehead. Or really just smearing it around instead of letting it bead up. “Oh great... Now I’m calling myself ‘Farmer’.”

It wasn’t that far of a walk to Robin’s home in the mountains, you arrived not ten minutes after nine in the morning, just in time for her to open.

“Good morning! What brings you up here?” Robin smiled, leaning forward on the counter. A strand of her hair fell in her fair and she quickly tucked it away behind her ear.

“It’s time Robin.” You dug the money out of your pocket and (accidentally, but dramatically) slammed in on the wood of the counter top. She smirked at you.

“What’s it gonna be?”

“A chicken Coop.” You responded.

“I’m assuming you have the materials back at the farm?” Robin quickly asked as she straightened up. In the other room, you heard a door open and close.

“Of course. Did you think I was going to lug 300 stone up a mountain just to have you bring it back down? That’s kinda extreme.” The both of you laughed.

Out of the corner of your eye, you noticed Robin’s son, Sebastian walking by, his hands shoved in his pockets and his head slumped forward. You hadn’t really spoken to the guy all that much, but Abigail sure mentioned him a lot. They were apparently really close friends, but you hadn’t actually seen him more than just at events.

“So we have a deal, right?”

“Huh?” Your head had apparently been following your eyes, because you were no longer facing Robin. You whipped around and hurriedly shook her hand. “Uh, yeah, totally! No rush on the construction, just, ya know… whenever.” You threw in an awkward laugh before waving and leaving the building.

Sebastian was making his way towards the lake, the one just outside the mines you went into every few days. The further down you went in there, the scarier it got. But you digress!

“Hey, wait up!” You called to him, causing him to jump. Still, he stopped so that was basically a win.

“Yeah?” He turned to you with his classic resting ‘goth’ face. He was about as good at hiding his emotions as Shane was. It took you a moment to catch up with him.

“How come I never see you around?” Welp. Straight to the point. You weren’t exactly meaning to sound so abrasive. “I mean, uhhh… Abigail talks about you a lot.” Solid save.

“I’m not really that crazy about being outside. I mean, I’ve already seen it all so…” His voice trailed off. You could tell he wasn’t really that crazy about you talking to him, either. You raised an eyebrow at him, noting that he was in fact outside. At that very moment. “Hm? Oh. I guess I’m not really that crazy about my room being filled with smoke either.”

“Smoke?” You repeated back with the smallest of head tilts. Sebastian reached into his jacket pocket, taking out a mostly empty pack of cigarettes. He gently shook them as if to point out that those were what he was talking about.

“I come outside once a day to smoke.” He explained just in case.

“Ah. I guess that would explain things, huh?”

“Yep.” Sebastian still wasn’t all that keen on your brief distraction.

“Anyway. I’ll leave you alone.” You gave a quick wave before turning to do just as you said.

“We should hangout some time.” He blurted out the words almost too quickly for you to catch. Good thing for you that you were becoming an expert at understanding these weird townsfolk. “If, uh… if you want. I mean… Abigail thinks you're cool, so…” He was starting to ramble.

“Yeah, sure. You let me know when.” You gave him one of those finger guns and walked backwards away from him. Until, of course, you were paranoid you were going to trip off a cliff.

 

“This one’s on the house.” Gus slid you a slice of pizza that night in the Saloon.

“Aw, Gus, thanks. You heard I’m basically poor now?” You were sure news spread fast. He opted not to respond, instead snatching up an empty glass off the bar counter and handing it off to Emily, who was carrying a basket of dirty dishes into the back. “Look, I’ll be able to pay you back once I actually get some chickens in the coop.”

“No worries. Like I said, on the house.”

“You’re too kind.” Taking a bite of the pizza, you nearly burnt your tongue, but managed to keep the piece from doing any damage.

“Are you excited to have some animals on the farm?” Emily had returned, brightly smiling at you as per usual.

“I guess. I’m kind of worried, though, I’ve never taken care of anything more than like, a dog or cat.” You admitted sheepishly. “Honestly I have no idea where to begin… I guess I’ll just read---”

“You’ll want a Silo.” A familiar voice spoke up to your right. As you swiveled your head around, your eyes fell on Shane, who was standing in his usual spot beside the fireplace. Didn’t he ever get sweaty doing that? He WAS wearing a pretty thick looking hoodie. “So you can store hay.” He took a sip of his beer, still staring straight ahead.

“You know about chickens…?” You muttered before remembering. “Oh yeah, you live with Marnie, don’t you?”

“And don’t forget to build a fence, you don’t want them getting out.” He was ignoring your questions. Swell. “If I hear you were dumb enough to let one escape…” Shane didn’t actually finish his sentence, but you were too busy being excited he was initiating a conversation with you. INITIATING it.

“Uh, yeah. Of course. I wouldn’t forgive myself if something happened to them…” You weren’t going to mess this conversation up, no way. Shane’s gaze shifted to you, a small, but noticeable smile formed across his face.

“Good.”


	5. Chapter Five

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning for lots of alcohol mention in this chapter : o

That was where it all started, in that Saloon on a late summer evening. Shane started, although very slowly, to open up to you. Okay, maybe ‘open up’ wasn’t the right way of putting it. It was more like he was lecturing you.

“Don’t feed them too much, you’re not running some god damn slaughter house, they need to be able to walk and roam and all that.” He chugged down another beer as if it wasn’t a big deal at all. Except that was like, his fifth that night. At some point he had shuffled over from his usual standing place to the seat beside you.

“Should I be… taking notes?” You teased him, munching on some fries you assured Gus you’d pay him back for. Shane snickered at that, but didn’t really respond. In fact, most of the conversation in general was rather one sided. You tried to get some sort of thing going, but every time he just chugged down more alcohol and kept rambling on about the proper care of chickens. You appreciated the assistance, but this all felt really odd.

“Chickens are just like any other animal, ya gotta love them like family.” He shifted his gaze to your face, suddenly pausing his Animal Planet like speech. There was a long moment of silence, his eyes looking even more tired than you were used to. In fact, his lips parted very slightly, as if he was concentrating impossibly hard.

“Shane? You okay?” You raised an eyebrow, about ready to call Gus over for some assistance. After another moment, he spoke again, but the words were so slurred and quiet, you couldn’t make it out at all. And here you were thinking you could understand anyone. “What was that?” You managed to say through a laugh.

Shane quickly turned away from you and drank the last of his sixth beer, clearly ignoring you.

“Okayyy, we need to cut you off.” You hopped off the stool and waved to Gus quickly before reaching for Shane’s arm. He instinctively pulled from you.

“Fffuck off.” Shane practically spat at you. Maybe you should have cut him off two beers ago.

“Don’t make this harder than it has to be.” You muttered bitterly, helping him off the stool. He nearly toppled over on top of you, but regained some balance, gripping onto your shoulder. His hands were kind of sweaty, his face all red, and eyebrows furrowed as he stared at you again. “C’mon, buddy. Let’s get you home. Goodnight, Gus!”

“Try not to drop him.” Was all the Saloon owner replied with. You weren’t sure how to take that.

Outside, it had dropped in temperature, the street lights bound to go out any minute, seeing as it was definitely after midnight. You wished you had brought your phone, but honestly who even used one in Pelican Town? Everything was so close by and everyone saw each other so frequently. Still, you had to maintain some sense of your old life, even if only to remind yourself why you were ditching it.

You were just the master of getting side tracked, weren’t you?

Hanging sloppily over your shoulder, Shane kept muttering to himself, only every few words being even slightly intelligible. Something about chickens, again, and a little bit about soccer or whatever. Not like anything was making sense. Still, it was admittedly adorable how he was still trying to talk to you, even if it was because he was drunk out of his mind. You had paid attention to his usual alcohol intake per evening and it was always three at the max.

After awhile, the two of you were far enough away from the main town that there were no streetlights and you were simply following a dirt path lit by the stars in the sky. Sure, it was cliche, but you really were blown away by the fact that they were so clearly there, looking down at you. It was kinda humbling in a way.

“Fucking loser… fucking….. Hopeless…” Shane was becoming a bit more coherent, but the context was completely out the window.

“Never drink this much again. Please.”

Soon enough, the not-so little farmhouse that Shane lived in came into view, but that was when he became more aware of his surroundings.

“No…”

“Hm?”

“No, no, no… noooo…” He yanked you back, preventing you from opening the front door.

“What’s wrong?” You were whispering now, just in case Marnie was still awake inside.

“No front door. Back.” Shane vaguely gestured off to the right, gagging for a split second. You waited to see if he was going to puke, but he held on, still gesturing.

“Um… Okay. Why the back?” You weren’t necessarily expecting an answer. After all, he had been dodging all of your attempts at conversation for the entire evening.

There was a bunch of slurred and mumbled words and then you heard one word.

“Jas…”

Oh. That was right. You hadn’t spoken to Jas more than one time, back when you were meeting Penny, but you had learned she was Shane’s incredibly younger cousin. Even this drunk and he still wanted to be positive she never saw him under the influence.

You rounded the back corner of the house (having to also assist him in hopping over the fence) and as a different door came into view, Shane began to dig around in his pocket for a key. You would have helped him, but that might have been extremely awkward. Or for certain it would have been awkward.

It took a solid minute, but Shane took out the key and even got the door unlocked without needing you at all. Instead, you just stood off to the side and made sure he didn’t pass out or whatever. Once the door was open, he stumbled into the room awkwardly, landing on his bed. You continued to stand outside, not expecting permission to enter. There was a moment before Shane looked at you expectantly, a single eyebrow raised.

“Oh, uh… I’ll just… Go.” You jerked a thumb behind you, adding an awkward laugh for emphasis.

“Mhm.” He stared at you, face still all red, head bobbing slightly.

“G… Goodnight.” You went to close the door, but slowly so you didn’t accidentally slam it and wake up the household.

“Mhm.” Shane hummed again, still maintaining eye contact up until the very last second when the door was shut. It was late. Luckily home wasn’t all that far away.

While you made the trek back, though, you couldn’t help but think one thing: You probably shouldn’t talk to Shane while he’s at the Saloon again.


	6. Chapter Six

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's 1:45am  
> I hope there is minimal spelling and grammar errors <3

When Shane woke up the next morning to his radio blasting sports news, he sat up, smacked the radio until it turned off, and immediately fell back once more. His entire face scrunched up and his thumb and pointer finger pinched at the bridge of his nose. A loud sigh of disgust left his parted lips.

“Fuck.” His other hand rose to his face and both were balled up into fists as he groaned again. “Fucking hell. I am an idiot.” He hadn’t planned on drinking so much last night, really. And now it was going to be the most awkward moment ever when he ran into you again. What was he supposed to say?  _ Sorry I almost puked on you, but I didn’t so there’s that.  _ Yeah. That’d go over REAL well. He briefly considered calling in sick to work, but Morris would have been pissed. So instead, he grumpily got out of bed, washed his face in the kitchen sink, grabbed an apple for breakfast, and left home.

 

Stepping outside to start your day, you stretched and yawned. After the whole debacle the previous night, you were figuring you would just stay on the farm that morning and avoid Shane as much as possible. To spare his embarrassment, of course. After all, you had a lot of work to do in order to make some money.

About three hours into taking care of your fields and collecting enough hay for the eventual chickens, you heard someone calling your name.

“Over here!” Abigail wave to you from the East entrance of your land. She looked to be in a rather good mood, grinning all the while. You set aside your axe in a stump you had been chopping wood on and wiped away the sweat beading on your forehead. It really wasn’t that late in the day, but you could have used a break.

“One sec!” You called back, snatching up your backpack from where you had placed it and jogging on over.

“Hey, farmer! I was wondering where you were.” She greeted you with both her hands on her hips. You snickered in between pants for breath.

“Whatcha’ need?” You soon asked.

“Get this, Sebastian actually wanted to see if you’d hang with us today!” She used her elbow to nudge you slightly.

“Watch where you swing that thing.” You joked back, swatting her elbow away. Abigail giggled and shook her head.

“C’mon stay on topic! You seemed to have made quite the impression on him.” Oh. She was insinuating stuff, wasn’t she?

“I haven’t even said--” You began to count on your fingers the words you said to him, but honestly, you had forgotten, so you decided to round up. “Like, two sentences to him.” Or maybe it was three.

“Well, doesn’t matter, you’re gonna come over to hang out tonight, right?” Her hands were on her hips again.

“Sure.” You gave a small shrug. Not like like you had any other plans since you were so kindly avoiding Shane for the day. “Where and When?”

“Sebastian’s place at five, see ya!” With that, Abigail ran off again, leaving you alone on your farm. The sun beat down on you, more sweat forming along the line between your hair and your forehead. You decided to wash up before heading over. Of course, the walk wasn’t THAT far, so you had some time to return to tree chopping. The chicken coop had cost you all of your previous reserves in all honesty.

 

Having finished up at the farm, you ran a hand through your hair and began the trek up to Sebastian’s home. Which, of course, was also Robin’s home, seeing as she was his mother. The walk wasn’t anything exciting, you waved and shared polite greetings with Caroline and Jodi as they passed by, but didn’t really run into anyone else. Luckily, Shane hadn’t passed by either.

Along the way, you decided to snatch up a Sweet Pea to gift to Robin as a way of saying ‘hey thanks for letting me hang out here.’ Just cause you were thoughtful like that. Arguably. Then again, you were just ripping wildlife from the dirt as a last minute choice. Perhaps thoughtful hadn’t been the correct term afterall.

You arrived roughly twenty minutes early (accidentally of course). Robin’s ‘shop’ was still open, so you went in without hesitation only to find that she wasn’t at the counter. You closed the door behind you, letting it make a soft click noise. Suddenly, the missing store owner dashed in from another room, sliding over to the front of the counter.

“Oh, sorry! I stepped away for only a second…” Robin smiled nonchalantly, brushing some loose strands of hair out of the way.

“It’s fine, I was just here to, uh---” You used your thumb to gesture towards the stairs that led down to the basement. You recalled Maru mentioning Sebastian lived down there. “Hang out with Sebastian and Abigail.”

“Oh! That’s great. Sebastian doesn’t really have that many friends, I’m glad to see you two are getting along!” Robin was a mother deep down, spilling a bit too much information on her son and whatnot. “He should be downstairs. Let me know if you need anything.”

You took your leave, carefully descending down the stairs until you reached a door. After a small pause, you mustered up your courage and knocked on the wood.

“Come in.” It sounded like Sebastian, so you turned the knob and headed on in. There he was, off to your left behind his computer typing up a storm. When you didn’t speak up, you saw him peek over the monitor, and raise both his eyebrows. “Oh.” Was he not expecting you?

“Hey.” You awkwardly waved, still standing in the entry way. “Sorry I’m early. Overestimated the walk up here.”

“It’s fine. Just, uh… I got some work I’m still doing.” His voice remained low as he sunk back down in his chair. You stayed motionless for a moment more until finally you decided it was just TOO painfully awkward and you shuffled nervously further into the basement. There was a small beanbag chair in the corner, so you decided that would be the best waiting option. You settled down on the cushion and began to stare.

Sebastian of course noticed that and side eyed you before returning to his work. It would’ve been too weird had he said ‘stop’ out loud, but you managed to pick up on the social cue and instead shifted your gaze to your shoes. They were covered in dirt from all your farming activities and while you had washed up yourself, you didn’t actually think to wash those off, too. Great. You were tracking dirt all over.

“Okay. Sorry about that, I just really had to get that done.” The boy swiveled in his chair to face towards you, his propped up elbow and fist immediately supporting his face.

“That’s fine. I got here early after all.” You chuckled nervously. That was becoming a bit of a habit and you weren’t sure how to feel about that. “Sooo, uh… what kind of work do you do?” Sweet small talk, brought to you by the Farmer.

“Freelance programming.” He stated simply. You nodded in response. “You can laugh if you want, everyone else doesn’t seem to take it seriously.” He gave you that kind of ‘emo brooding lone wolf’ look that you really didn’t know how to react to.

“I mean… there’s really no reason to laugh.” You gave him a flat answer, expression unchanging. “I came from the city, remember? Any freelance work is pretty common outside of small places like this.” To try and hit home the idea that you weren’t about to shit all over his career, you gave a soft smile. Sebastian returned it.

“Thanks.”

 

It was getting later in the evening, Shane sitting at the bar counter with his head resting on the wood material it was built from. He had taken an extra long route to work that morning to be positive he didn’t run into you, but that did end up with him late to work and his employer wasn’t all that happy. Fuck he was dumb. He was a goddamn idiot.

He was a chicken. He was so fucking afraid to talk to you the other night that he wound up drinking himself into quite the problem area.

“So, Shane.” Gus stood over him, wiping off something from the counter. “Did they drop you?”


	7. Chapter Seven

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> wHOOPS THIS TOOK FOREVER

“Yeah. No worries.” You muttered awkwardly in response to Sebastian. “I know what it’s like to have your passions mocked, so…”

“Did you always want to be a farmer?” He crossed his legs, his right hand now resting on his desk, fingertips tapping on a near-empty box of cigarettes. You recalled him mentioning the only times he went outside was for a smoke. You wondered how bad he was about that, how often he had to do it.

“I can’t say it was really in the plan.” You shifted around on top of the bean bag chair, which, you noted, didn’t have that many beans left in it.

“It was your grandfather’s farm, yeah?” His gaze remained steady.

“Mhm. I only visited once when I was a kid. I’m sure it goes without saying, but it looked a lot better back in the day.” That earned you a small smile from Sebastian. Victory. “There was this… cobblestone path that went past every single field and there were just rows and rows of crops. And, like, since I was just a kid it felt like you could get lost in the greenery for hours.”

“That must have been fun.” You could tell he wasn’t being all that genuine, seeing as his pale skin was a direct relation to how little he enjoyed the outside, but at least he was trying.

“Yeah. I guess I never was much for nature stuff, but…” You ran your fingers through your hair. “It’s kinda like taste buds. After a while you just have to see if things are different.”

“That’s a big jump from your old life, though. Like… that’s a lot of risk.” Sebastian furrowed his brows at you. It was true, you certainly dropped EVERYTHING to just go follow your impulse. It could have gone terribly wrong. In fact, it basically did.

You were miserable at first, seeing the huge mess the farm had decayed into over the years your grandfather hadn’t lived there. You questioned why he hadn’t simply sold the property or even donated it to the town itself; at least then it would have been purposed somehow rather than left to rot. He left it for you, though, as if he saw all along that you would come to loathe the industrial city life you were born and raised into.

Some part of you accepted that you were merely romanticising the thought of running away to some run-down farm where you could work hard, live out your dreams, maybe fall in love…

But most of you just felt the pressure of the outside world crushing down on your shoulders. You couldn’t breath there. You had to get out.

“Yeah. It was.” You only could think to agree with him.

 

Some waiting happened shortly after, seeing as you left the conversation to fall apart at the end. Sweet job. Soon enough, though, there was a knock on the door and Sebastian hopped up from his desk to open it up. Abigail peered around the door as it was slowly opened and made eye contact with you, but that was when you noted the dude behind her.

She had failed to mention Sam was going to be there, too.

Sam was an interesting guy. You barely met him the once when he was just standing on top his skateboard with a GameBoy in his hands. He greeted you brightly, but quickly the two of you fell into an awkward silence and you decided to move on with your life.

“Sorry we’re a little late.” Abigail faced towards Sebastian at the entry way, forcing Sam to shuffle in through the small gap between her and the wall. It was kind of hilarious looking.

“Oh, hey there, Farmer! How’s it going?” Sam waved at you and approached. You took the opportunity to stand up, finally sick of sitting on that slightly inflated bean bag chair. The blonde was grinning but you were aware he had nothing to say. All positivity, no small talk.

“Oh, you know. Pretty good. Just tired from the work.” You shrugged at him. Sam seemed satisfied by that answer and nodded along before turning to look over his shoulder at the other two.

Abigail and Sebastian were still lingering around the doorway, with the former smiling up a storm and listening closely to her friend.

“Man I just wish those two would get together already..” Sam muttered in a mocking tone.

“They always make googly eyes like that at each other?” That got you a snort in return.

“Yeah. I dunno, man, sometimes I feel like I’m third wheeling here.”

Oh jeez. You were beginning to wonder if Sebastian only invited you over for this to be some kind of double date scenario. In which that would mean you were Sam’s date. Not exactly what you had hoped for that evening but there you were anyway. And again, you couldn’t have been sure that was the intention.

“I guess we can both be third wheels this time.” You mumbled, knowing he wouldn’t have heard, but also wouldn’t ask for a repeat. Sure enough, he simply nodded and continued to look away.

After a moment or two more, Abigail turned to look at you with her usual smile.

“Hey! How early did you get here?”

“20 minutes or something.” You shrugged, placing your hands in your pockets. “Sebastian and I just chatted for a bit.”

“Wow, you actually got him to TALK?” Sam joined in the conversation from beside you, elbowing your side gently. You flinched regardless.

“Hey, I’m a shut in not anti social.” Sebastian retorted with very little enthusiasm.

“Same difference.” Abigail rolled her eyes, shoving the goth kid towards the center of the room, closer to both you and Sam.

For a while you all just chatted back and forth about different things. You learned Sebastian had only been smoking for a couple years. At first his parent tried to stop him but truthfully his mother gave up not long after and forced Demetrius to quit badgering him as well. Sebastian managed to make it sound like his mother pushed him to that point, and honestly you wouldn’t be surprised. Maybe that was why she gave in so easily to his rebelling. She felt guilty.

Abigail spoke about her love of adventure and the intense desire to break free from the little town she had been born and raised in. At the same time she shared her fears and worries. There was so little that she actually knew about the world and about other people that she felt way more inclined to hide away in the mines despite the danger.

Sam went on about his father being in the war, how long ago he had left, the anxiety he felt knowing he’s one day return.

You weren’t sure exactly why all of them had opened up to you so suddenly, but the truth was you appreciated it. They trusted you, some stranger from the city who barely left the farm. Silence fell over all of you, until Abigail turned the tables.

“So, uh, Farmer? You’ve been here for a while now….” She trailed off, trying hard not to giggle.

“I guess.” You responded, taking a sip of your drink.

“Sooo, do you have your eyes on anyone?” She nudged you with her elbow for the second time that day. You instinctively held your side.

 

Shane tapped his fingertips along the side of his cup of beer, side eyeing the entryway of the Saloon. It was getting late.

“They aren’t coming.” Gus seemingly appeared out of nowhere, standing over Shane from the other side of the counter.

“Bah… I don’t know what you’re talking about.” He insisted quite bitterly.

“They’re at Sebastian’s place if memory serves me correctly. Sam had stopped by and mentioned it.” Gus continued talking, knowing that Shane probably wanted the details despite his distance to the topic.

Shane grumbled, grip tightening on the glass. If he wasn’t such a chicken he would have found you that morning and apologized and perhaps the two of you would have had a second chance to talk. He was an idiot.


End file.
